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Monday, July 20, 2015

A Rendezvous With Praveen Morchhale (Filmmaker- 'Barefoot To Goa)

I along with Praveen Morchhale & Bindu Cherungath at Essex Farms, Delhi

I got a message late
night day before yesterday (19th July, 2015) on facebook Messenger 'We will
meet tomorrow'; I had to really push and shoo away the darkness out of my
bedroom for the first sun rays to hit my window pane so as to catch-up with
Praveen Morchhale the talented filmmaker who offered us a beautiful movie
'Barefoot To Goa" which was released on 10th April, 2015. It is the first
ever commercially released movie by 238 'Proud Funders' (Praveen Morchhale love
to address the contributors as Proud Funders) from fifteen countries.

A similar message and
call was received by my friend and colleague Bindu Cherungath (a film critic, blogger
and my business partner in Insignia Solutions Private Limited) and catching up with her yesterday in office
and waiting impatiently to fix a time and place with Praveen Morchhale was something
which both of us wanted to happen as quickly as possible.

And finally we had
our rendezvous with Praveen Morchhale at Essex Farms, Aurobindo Marg, Delhi.
Praveen is unpretentious in real life like his movies. An unofficial meeting
with a cup of coffee which I assumed to end with an hour, beautifully extended
to more than five hours with coffee, tea, spring rolls and chilli potatoes
served in regular intervals while we savored on his film making experience, his
view on world cinema, kind of film makers, different genres of movies, the
industry...

As his film 'Barefoot
To Goa' is a reminder for us that it is relationships and its values that make
our life happy, so is Praveen Morchhale who believes in what he depicts on
screen. Praveen believes in conveying positive messages in life. He says why we
are obsessed and stuck up with the negativities of life, there is so much positivity
in life and why not portray them. Barefoot was a humble attempt in this regard
and he is immensely happy to get a wonderful response for his movie and the kind
of positive buzz it generated among cinema lovers.

Hearing about some of
his plots which are yet to be made into movies and some in the pipeline were
quite insightful and inspiring for the kind of message he intend to convey
which are so realistic and relevant to the contemporary society. I wish may his
craft, passion and astuteness in making socially relevant films be a
trendsetter for the industry and the world of cinemas.

His days in IRMA
(Institute of Rural Management Anand) as a student, his adventures and
misadventures with his gang of friends, how they scored marks and the kind of
relations he had with his professors and the late night Hindi poem rendition in
the hostel room by one of his professor were all part of this rendezvous. The positive
influence of his father

( a medical practitioner) in his life added a very
personal touch to our talks.

Time to bid adieu

Some days of our life are very
special, beautiful, full of new learning and an opportunity for unlearning. It
also seems to be specially customized for us only. And yesterday was one of
them for me with Praveen Morchhale and my friend Bindu Cherungath. Though, we
also missed our good friend Prashanth Sehgal (another excellent filmmaker).

As Paulo Coelho the Brazilian writer says,
"When you want something , all the universe conspires in helping you to
achieve it. Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience";
listening to Praveen Morchhale's life and experience was a reiteration and
reaffirmation of what Paulo Coelho says.